The mortality rate for women with ovarian cancer is very high, with an estimated 14,300 deaths from ovarian cancer in 2003 in the United States. More than two-thirds of patients have late stage metastatic disease at initial diagnosis with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 20-30%. Conversely, the long-term survival rate approaches 90% at early stages. There is currently no proven effective method for early detection of ovarian cancer through biomarkers, imaging, or other means. The most common biomarker for ovarian cancer is CA 125 which lacks specificity and is elevated in only about 50% of stage I ovarian cancer cases. Proteomic patterns derived from surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectroscopy analysis have recently shown promise for early ovarian cancer detection but further studies regarding their reproducibility and reliability for early detection and screening are needed.